Commission Regulation (EC) No 2075/2000 of 29 September 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)
Date: 2000-09-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EAGGF Guarantee Section, EAGGF Guidance Section, State aid, aid to agriculture, regional aid, rural development

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2075/2000

of 29 September 2000

amending Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council
Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural
Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17
May 1999 on support for rural development from the Euro-
pean Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and
amending and repealing certain Regulations (1), and in partic-
ular Article 50 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

During the period when the programming documents
for rural development measures covered by Article 40 of
Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 were being adopted, it
was found that some of the provisions of Commission
Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999, of 23 July 1999, laying
down detailed rules for the application of Regulation
(EC) No 1257/1999 (2) did not cater for all eventualities.

This Regulation therefore clarifies or supplements those
provisions to allow for a more harmonised application
of Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 to all rural develop-
ment measures, whether they are included in regional
programmes under Objectives 1 or 2 or in rural devel-
opment programmes. Under these circumstances, most
of the amendments must apply from the same date as
i.e. 1 January 2000.
Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999,

Scrutiny of the programming documents has revealed
that it is very difficult for farms in rural areas facing very
serious structural difficulties to meet the requirements
for qualifying for investment support under Article 5 of
Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999. In the case of small
investments, the Member States should be allowed to
grant a period of grace to enable farms to meet these
requirements.

(5)

(6)

(7)

1257/1999 must be fulfilled at the time when the indi-
vidual decision to grant support is taken. For 2000, the
time between lodging of the application and the decision
to grant support may be longer than expected given that
the majority of programming documents are being
adopted in the second half of the year. It is possible that
the young farmer might no longer
the age
criterion, i.e. be less than forty years old, by the time the
support is paid. Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1750/
1999 should therefore be made more flexible for
applications lodged in 2000.

fulfil

The exceptions referred to in Article 37(3) of Regulation
(EC) No 1257/1999 must be presented in the rural
development plans. That procedure should be extended
to other programming documents including such meas-
ures presented under Objectives 1 and 2.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1685/2000 (3)
lays
down detailed rules for the implementation of Commis-
sion Regulation (EC) 1260/2000 (4) as regards eligibility
of expenditure under operations part-financed by the
Structural
the EAGGF Guidance
Section. In the interests of consistency, that Regulation
should also apply to measures part-financed by the
except were otherwise
EAGGF Guarantee Section,
provided in Regulations (EC) No 1257/1999, (EC) No
1258/1999 (5) and (EC) No 1750/1999.

including

Funds,

under

allocations

Commission Decision 1999/659/EC of 8 September
1999 fixing an indicative allocation by Member State of
the
European Agricultural
the
Guidance and Guarantee Fund Guarantee Section for
rural development measures for the period 2000 to
2006 (6) has been amended to specify that expenditure
incurred under
the earlier accompanying measures
covered by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2078/92 (7), as
last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2772/
95 (8),
last amended by
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2773/95 (10) and (EEC)
No 2080/92 (11), including measures under the Regula-
tions repealed by those Regulations adopted in 1992, is
an integral part of the allocations granted to the Member
States. Moreover, under Commission Regulation (EC) No
2603/1999 of 9 December 1999 laying down rules for

(EEC) No 2079/92 (9), as

(4)

As regards the setting-up of young farmers, Article 5 of
Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 lays down that
the
conditions set out in Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.
(2) OJ L 214, 13.8.1999, p. 31.

(3) OJ L 193, 29.7.2000, p. 39.
(4) OJ L 142, 16.6.2000, p. 43.
(5) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.
(6) OJ L 259, 6.10.1999, p. 27.
(7) OJ L 215, 30.7.1992, p. 85.
(8) OJ L 288, 1.12.1995, p. 35.
(9) OJ L 215, 30.7.1992, p. 91.
(10) OJ L 288, 1.12.1995, p. 37.
(11) OJ L 215, 30.7.1992, p. 96.

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the transition to the rural development support provided
for by Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 (1), as
amended
by Regulation (EC) No 1920/2000 (2),
payments arising from certain commitments made
before 1 January 2000 may be included in the rural
development programming for 2000 to 2006, subject to
certain conditions. This being the case, it is necessary to
is included in the total
define more precisely what
amount of Community support
fixed for each rural
development plan in the programming document
approved by the Commission, and to adjust the indic-
ative overall financial table in point 8 of the Annex to
Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 accordingly.

(8)

Furthermore, under Article 5 of Council Regulation (EC)
No 1259/1999 of 17 May 1999 establishing common
rules for direct support schemes under the common
agricultural policy (3), the amounts accruing from penal-
ties for failure to comply with environmental protection
requirements and from modulation remain available to
the Member States as additional Community support for
certain rural development measures. Exactly what the
Commission's approval covers in the case of such meas-
ures should be specified.

(9) When the Member States make changes to key parts of
their rural development programming documents, such
changes must be approved by the Commission. In the
interests of consistency, the same rules should apply to
changes to rural development measures financed by the
EAGGF Guarantee Section included in single program-
ming documents for Objective 2. In addition, it appears
that the existing rules on changes to the financial alloca-
tion for each measure would systematically result in
amending the programming documents each year,
which would significantly impede programme manage-
ment. Those rules should therefore be made more flex-
ible.

(10)

To ensure proper management of all the rural develop-
ment measures
financed by the EAGGF Guarantee
Section, the rules on financing and control in Regulation
(EC) No 1750/1999 should also apply to rural develop-

(1) OJ L 316, 10.12.1999, p. 26.
(2) OJ L 231, 13.9.2000, p. 5.
(3) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 113.

(11)

(12)

ment measures in the single programming documents
for Objective 2 financed by the EAGGF Guarantee
Section.

Furthermore, Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3887/92
of 23 December 1992 laying down detailed rules for
applying the integrated administration and control
system for certain Community aid schemes (4), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 2801/1999 (5), was
significantly amended after the adoption of Regulation
(EC) No 1750/1999. In the interests of clarity, therefore,
the references made to that Regulation in Regulation
(EC) No 1750/1999 should be amended.

Expenditure incurred under the earlier accompanying
measures covered by Council Regulations (EEC) No
2078/92, (EEC) No 2079/92 and (EEC) No 2080/92 and
included in the financial programming for 2000 to
2006 must be included in the information to be
provided by the Member States by 30 September each
year under Article 37 of Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999.
This being the case, the obligations arising from the
financial monitoring rules in Article 17 of Commission
Regulation (EC) No 746/96 (6), as last amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 435/97 (7), Articles 1 and 2 of Commis-
sion Regulation (EC) No 1404/94 (8) and Articles 1 and
2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1054/94 (9) must
be repealed.

(13)

The Committee on Agricultural Structures and Rural
Development has not delivered an opinion within the
time limit set by its Chair,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 is amended as follows:

1. the following paragraph is added at the end of Article 2:

‘In the case of farms located in rural areas where the
structural difficulties caused by the very small size of farms
are such that it is particularly difficult for them to meet the
requirements of Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/
1999, until 31 December 2002 and without prejudice to
Article 37(1) of that Regulation and the second paragraph
this Article, Member States may grant such farms
of
support for investments totalling less than EUR 25 000 to
enable them to comply with the said requirements within
a period of not more than three years from the date of the
decision to grant the support.’;

(4) OJ L 391, 31.12.1992, p. 36.
(5) OJ L 340, 31.12.1999, p. 29.
(6) OJ L 102, 25.4.1996, p. 19.
(7) OJ L 67, 7.3.1997, p. 2.
(8) OJ L 154, 21.6.1994, p. 8.
(9) OJ L 115, 6.5.1994, p. 6.

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2. the following sentence is added to the first paragraph of

Article 5:

‘However, in the case of applications submitted for the first
time in 2000, the condition laid down in the first indent
of Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 must be
fulfilled at the time the application is lodged.’;

3. Article 31(3) is replaced by the following:

‘3. Member States shall propose any exceptions under
the first indent of the second subparagraph of Article
37(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 in their rural
development plans or programming documents presented
for Objectives 1 and 2 as provided for in Article 18(1) and
(2) and Article 19(1), (2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No
1260/1999.’;

4. the following Article is inserted at the end of Section 1 of

Chapter III:

‘Article 32a

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1685/2000 (*) of 28 July
2000 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of
Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 as regards eligi-
bility of expenditure of operations co-financed by the
Structural Funds shall apply to measures included in the
programming referred to in Article 40(2) and (3) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1257/1999, except where otherwise
provided in Regulations (EC) No 1257/1999 and (EC) No
1258/1999 and in this Regulation.

(*) OJ L 193, 29.7.2000, p. 39.’;

5. the following subparagraphs are added at

the end of

Article 33(2):

‘That amount shall

include:

(a) expenditure on measures presented under the new
rural development programming,
including expendi-
ture on evaluation under Article 49(2) of Regulation
(EC) No 1257/1999;

(b) expenditure

incurred under

accompanying
measures covered by Council Regulations (EEC) No
2078/92, (EEC) No 2079/92 and (EEC) No 2080/92;

earlier

(c) expenditure incurred on measures under Article 4 of
Commission Regulation
(EC) No 2603/1999 (*)
laying down rules for the transition to the rural
development support provided for by Council Regu-
lation (EC) No 1257/1999.

(*) OJ L 316, 10.12.1999, p. 26.’;

6. the following paragraph is inserted after Article 33(2):

The approval shall also cover the allocation and
‘2 a
use of amounts
remaining available to the Member
States as additional Community support under Article 5
of Regulation (EC) No 1259/1999.

those amounts shall not be included in the
However,
overall amount of Community support referred to in
paragraph 2.’;

7. the first sentence of Article 35(1)

is replaced by the

following:

‘Amendments to rural development programming docu-
ments and to single programming documents under
Objective 2 in the case of rural development measures
financed by the EAGGF Guarantee Section shall be duly
substantiated, in particular on the basis of the following
information:’;

8. the first sentence of Article 35(2)

is replaced by the

following:

‘The Commission shall approve,
in accordance with the
procedures laid down in Articles 48 and 50(2) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1260/1999, respectively, amendments to
rural development programming documents
and to
single programming documents under Objective 2 in the
rural development measures financed by the
case of
EAGGF Guarantee Section.’;

9. Article 35(2)(d) and (e) are replaced by the following:

‘(d) changing the financial allocation for any measure by
more than 10 % of
the amount provided for the
entire programming period, calculated on the basis
of
the programming document approved by the
Commission.

(e) changing additional financing in the form of State
aid granted for one of the measures by more than
10 % of
entire
programming period, calculated on the basis of the
programming document approved by the Commis-
sion.’;

amount provided for

the

the

10. the following subparagraph is inserted after

the first

subparagraph of Article 35(2):

‘Points (d) and (e) of
the first subparagraph shall not
apply to measures with a financial allocation accounting
for less than 5 % of the total amount allocated to the
programme for the entire programming period.’;

11. the second subparagraph of Article 35(2) is replaced by

the following:

‘Amendments shall be submitted to the Commission in
a single proposal per programme no more than once a
year.’;

12. Article 37(1) is replaced by the following:

than 30 September

each year,
forward to the Commission,

the
No later
‘1.
Member States shall
for
each rural development programming document and
each single programming document under Objective 2
in the case of rural development measures financed by
the EAGGF Guarantee Section:

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(a) a statement of expenditure incurred in the current
financial year and of expenditure remaining to be
disbursed by the end of that year and covered by
Community support as defined in Article 33(2) of
this Regulation, and

(b) revised forecasts of such expenditure for subsequent
financial years until
the programming
period concerned, keeping within the allocation for
each Member State.

the end of

This information shall be transmitted in table format
using a computerised model supplied by the Commis-
sion.’;

13. Article 38 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 38

For the month during which the decision approving a
rural development programming document or a single
programming document under Objective 2 in the case
of rural development measures financed by the EAGGF
Guarantee Section is adopted, the paying agencies may
enter into the accounts as expenditure an advance not
exceeding 12,5 % of the average annual EAGGF contri-
bution provided for
in the programming document,
covering the expenditure referred to in Article 33(2) of
this Regulation.

The advance provided for in the first paragraph shall be
entered into the accounts,
for those countries whose
currency is not the euro on the date of entry, using the
rate of exchange valid on the penultimate Commission
working day of the month preceding that in which the
paying agencies enter the advance in the accounts.

in
This advance shall represent working capital which,
principle, may be recovered only at
the
programming period for each programming document
or once the sum of
the expenditure paid out by the
EAGGF plus the amount of the advance equal the total
amount of the EAGGF contribution provided for in the
programming document.’;

the end of

14. Article 39(4) is replaced by the following:

‘During the period covered by an undertaking, parcels
receiving support may not be exchanged except in cases
specifically provided for in the programming document.’;

17. the first sentence of Article 47(4)

is replaced by the

following:

‘On-the-spot checks shall be carried out in accordance
with Articles 6, 7, 7a and 7b of Regulation (EEC) No
3887/92.’;

18. Article 48(1) is replaced by the following:

Article 9(1),

‘1.
(2) and (3) of Regulation (EEC) No
3887/92 shall apply to support granted on the basis of
areas and Article 10(2), (3), (4), (5), Article (10)(b) and
Article (10)(f) of that Regulation shall apply to support
granted on the basis of animals.

Moreover, Articles 11(1)(a) and 14 of Regulation (EEC)
No 3887/92 shall apply to such support.’;

19. Article 49(2) is replaced by the following:

The Regulations and Decisions repealed in para-
‘2.
graph 1, with the exception of Article 17 of Regulation
(EC) No 746/96, Articles 1 and 2 of Regulation (EC) No
1404/94 and Articles 1 and 2 of Regulation (EC) No
1054/94, shall continue to apply to measures approved
by the Commission before 1 January 2000 under the
Regulations referred to in Article 55(1) of Regulation
(EC) No 1257/1999.’;

20. the table in point 8 of the Annex is replaced by the

table in the Annex to this Regulation.

21. the second indent

in point 9.2.B of

the Annex is

replaced by the following:

‘— criteria to demonstrate economic viability (Chapters

I, II, IV and VII);’

22. the following indent

is added to point 9.3.I.B of

the

Annex:

‘— where applicable, a description of

the rural areas
facing structural difficulties as referred to in Article
2 of this Regulation.’;

‘4.
Paragraph 3 shall not apply to the first statement
of expenditure under the rural development program-
ming document or the single programming document
rural development
under Objective 2 in the case of
measures financed by the EAGGF Guarantee Section.’;

23. The second paragraph of point 12 of

the Annex is

replaced by the following:

‘2. Detailed information on the implementation of Articles

46, 47 and 48 of this Regulation

15. the following Article is
Section IV of Chapter III:

inserted after Article 39 in

‘Article 39a

this Regulation shall not
Articles 37, 38 and 39 of
apply to expenditure incurred under Article 5 of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1259/1999.’;

16. the second sentence of Article 46(2) is replaced by the

following:

This should include the specific inspection measures
set up to verify the substance of applications and
for
ensure
support, and the specific rules on penalties.’;

compliance with

requirements

the

24. the following paragraph is added to point 12 of

the

Annex:

‘3. Detailed information on compliance with the general eligi-
bility criteria laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1685/
2000.

Article 32a of this Regulation.’

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This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

With the exception of Article 1(13) and (19),

it shall apply from 1 January 2000.

Article 2

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States.

Done at Brussels, 29 September 2000.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

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‘8. Indicative overall financial table (EAGGF year)

Fourth indent of Article 43(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999.

— Financial programming table: rural development programmes (EUR million)

ANNEX

Year 1

Year 2 …

… Year 7

TOTAL

Total or public
cost (1)

EU
contribution (2)

Total or public
cost (1)

EU
contribution (2)

Total or public
cost (1)

EU
contribution (2)

Total or public
cost (1)

EU
contribution (2)

Priority A …

Measure A1

Measure A2 …

… Measure An

Total A

Priority B …

Measure B1

Measure B2 …

… Measure Bn

Total B

… Priority N

Measure N1

Measure N2 …

… Measure Nn

Total N

Other measures

Evaluation

Earlier accompanying
measures (3)

Transitional
measures (4)

Total other
measures

Total plan N

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APPLICATION OF THE APPROPRIATIONS RESULTING FROM MODULATION

Year 1

Year 2 …

… Year 7

TOTAL

Total or public
cost (1)

EU
contribution (2)

Total or public
cost (1)

EU
contribution (2)

Total or public
cost (1)

EU
contribution (2)

Total or public
cost (1)

EU
contribution (2)

Early retirement

Agri-environment

Agri-environment

Afforestation

Total modulation

(1) Column for planned expenditure (total or public cost), provided for guidance.
(2) Column for the Community contribution planned for each measure. The Community contribution relating to expenditure to be paid is calculated using the rates and

arrangements laid down in the programme for each measure.

(3) The heading for former accompanying measures includes all payments for these measures carried out between 16 October 1999 and the date when the Commission

approved the plan.

(4) Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2603/1999. The Member States must define the criteria, identifying clearly the expenditure to be included in programming.

Note: Where a measure is entered simultaneously under more than one priority, the Member State shall provide, for the purposes of financial
management, an additional table consolidating all expenditure relating to the measure. This additional table will follow the structure of the
table above and the order of the list below.

— The different measures are defined as follows:

(a) investment in farms;

(b) start-up assistance for young farmers;

(c) training;

(d) early retirement;

(e) less-favoured areas and areas with environmental constraints:

(f) agri-environment;

(g) improving the processing and marketing of agricultural products;

(h) afforestation of agricultural

land;

(i) other forestry measures;

(j) land improvement;

(k) reparcelling;

(l) setting up farm relief and farm management services;

(m) marketing of quality agricultural products;

(n) basic services for the rural economy and population;

(o) renovating and developing villages, protecting and conserving rural heritage;

(p) diversifying agricultural activites and activities close to agriculture to provide multiple activities or alternative sources of income;

(q) managing agricultural water resources;

(r) developing and improving infrastructure connected with the development of agriculture;

(s) encouraging tourist and craft activities;

(t) protecting the environment in connection with agriculture, forestry and landscape management and improving animal welfare;

(u) restoring agricultural production potential damaged by natural disasters and introducing appropriate prevention instruments;

(v) financial engineering.

— EAGGF Guarantee Section resources for measures to promote the adaptation and development of rural areas (Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999)

in Objective 2 (rural) areas: EUR … million (% of total for Article 33).’